Indix Unveils V1 of Its Product Intelligence API

Product intelligence platform Indix has unveiled version 1 of its API. Billing itself as the "world's largest product database," Indix, which was founded in 2010 by a former Microsoft executive, has amassed data on more than 400 million products, 400,000 sellers, 40,000 brands and 1,700 stores. Using the Indix API, developers can tap into this vast trove of data to build "product-aware applications."

The V1 of the company's API incorporates feedback received from customers using the beta version, which was released last November. API users now have a richer set of search and filtering tools. For instance, it is possible to search for products using text queries, as well as product identifiers such as SKU and UPC. The latest release of the Indix API also adds a comprehensive set of product image URLs.

The Indix API has two components: Offers Intelligence and Catalog Intelligence. Offers Intelligence provides data related to product sales, such as the stores a product is available in, real-time and historical pricing, availability, and current promotions. Catalog Intelligence provides access to product attributes, including brand, features and categorization.

According to Indix spokesman Nick Opich, "Indix is primarily targeting mobile and app developers who are interested in building product-aware applications that harness the sheer breadth and depth of Indix’s product intelligence platform. Example applications include building curated e-commerce storefronts, customized product search and personalized product catalogs."

"As commerce becomes more pervasive and dynamic, businesses have to leverage customer intelligence, business intelligence and product intelligence to deliver the right product to the right customer at the right time at the right price, through their apps and websites," Indix founder and CEO Sanjay Parthasarathy said in a news release. "With the Indix API, brands, retailers and developers will now have access to critical product data on hundreds of millions of products and a comprehensive set of product attributes instantly."

Indix says that brands and retailers are using its API to better understand the products they're selling and to perform competitive analysis. The company is also looking to promote the use of its offering among startups. To that end, Indix has launched a KickStart program that gives startups with less than $1 million in funding and less than $100,000 in revenue access to the Indix API at reduced cost.

Big Data, More Context

Big data has become a popular topic in the past couple of years, but big data alone doesn't necessarily create value. Companies are increasingly looking to make sense of that data and apply it in useful ways that drive greater meaning.

By providing an API that makes it easy for companies to tap into data on hundreds of millions of products, Indix is a good example of a company that isn't just providing access to large volumes of data, but that is packaging and delivering that data in a manner that gives its customers the ability to add more context.